i6o 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XII. No. 296 



gineering, entomology, fine art, geography, geology, microscopy, 

 mineralogy, photography, physics, and zoology. The associate 

 members of the institute thus constitute a federation of independ- 

 ent departments ; but a single admission-fee being required for as- 

 sociate membership, while each member has the privilege of joining 

 as many departments as may be suggested by his individual tastes. 

 For the origination of this plan, as well as for the burden of the 

 work of organization, the credit is due chiefly to Mr. F. W. Hooper, 

 of the Adelphi Academy, Brooklyn. 



Aside from the meetings of departments, general meetmgs of the 

 associate members are periodically held in connection with a course 

 of public lectures. The opening lecture of the first course was 

 given last April by Mr. W. LeConte Stevens, who was followed in 

 successive weeks by Messrs. Robert Spice, George M. Hopkins, 

 and Garrett P. Serviss. The season was closed with an exhibition 

 by the department of microscopy, which was largely attended and 

 in every way successful. The attendance at the public lectures 

 was at first about three hundred, but grew to more than five hun- 

 dred with the progress of the season. 



Departments of entomology and of physics have been organized 

 in addition to those already incorporated in the institute, and others 

 will soon be started in chemistry, mineralogy, and botany. The 

 department of physics held its first meeting on the evening of Sept. 

 26, when Mr. G. M. Hopkins exhibited a variety of apparatus, 

 largely of his own device, illustrating centrifugal motion and the 

 gyroscope. This was followed by a discussion of the latter instru- 

 ment introduced by Mr. W. LeConte Stevens and participated in 

 by various other members of the department. 



The public lecture course for the coming winter has been already 

 arranged, the openmg lecture, on the nth of October, being by Mr. 

 Bradford of New York, the well-known artist and arctic explorer. 

 Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and the scientific departments at Wash- 

 ington are well represented in the list of lecturers. S. 



was an entomological day. The excursion in the morning was 

 conducted by the Rev. G. D. Hulst, and the afternoon was devoted 

 to the examination of insects collected, and to remarks by the same 

 gentleman upon the collection, preservation, and classification of 

 entomological specimens. In the evening a lecture upon seaweeds 

 was given by Isaaac Holden of Bridgeport, Conn. This, like the 

 lecture on diatoms, was made doubly interesting by means of the 

 stereopticon. Mr. Holden also exhibited a large number of beau- 

 tifully mounted specimens collected by him in the vicinity of his 

 home at Bridgeport. On Friday afternoon, after the examination 

 of the plants collected in the morning, a very instructive lecture 

 was given by Prof. T. O'C. Sloane of the Scientific American, and 

 author of ' Home Experiments in Science,' on ' How to make Sci- 

 entific Experiments with Simple Apparatus.' This was illustrated 

 by actual experiments in physics, made with very simple and inex- 

 pensive apparatus. It was a surprise to every one that so much- 

 could be accomplished, and so many experiments performed, at so- 

 trifling a cost. 



The Seaside Assembly adjourned at the close of this lecture, 

 every one present feeling that a very profitable week had been spent. 

 The attendance was not so large as expected, but those who were 

 present felt fully repaid for their coming. A universal desire was 

 expressed that the assembly be held again next summ.er, and the 

 committee of arrangements were requested to do what they could 

 to accomplish this result. Should this be done, it is hoped that a 

 large number of the chapters will take an active interest in the 

 assembly. Rev. L. H. Lighthipe, Woodbridge, N.J., is chairman of 

 the committee of arrangements, and as such he will be most happy 

 to receive any suggestions that may be offered. 



THE AGASSIZ SEASIDE ASSEMBLY. 



At the May meeting of the New Jersey Assembly of the Agassiz 

 Association, held at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N.J., it was 

 decided to hold a seaside assembly, open not only to members of 

 the Agassiz Association generally, but to all persons interested in 

 the study of natural science. A committee was appointed, with 

 power to make all necessary arrangements. Asbury Park was se- 

 lected as the place, and the week beginning with Aug. 5 as the 

 time, for the meeting ; and Educational Hall was secured for the 

 purpose. Circulars were sent to all the chapters in New England 

 and the Middle States, and also to many persons interested in sci- 

 entific studies, who were not members of the association. The 

 assembly met on the day appointed, in Educational Hall, Asbury 

 Park. The opening lecture was delivered by Harlan H. Ballard, 

 president of the Agassiz Association, and it was a most inspiring 

 introduction to a week of very successful and delightful work. The 

 mornings of the remaining days of the week were devoted to field- 

 excursions in botany and entomology, the former under the guid- 

 ance of the Rev. L. H. Lighthipe, and the latter under the Rev. G. 

 D. Hulst, the State entomologist of New Jersey. Tuesday after- 

 noon was devoted to the examination and analysis of plants, many 

 of which, belonging to the 'pine-barrens,' were quite new to most 

 of those present. A paper upon the ' Flora of New Jersey ' was 

 contributed by the Rev. L. H. Lighthipe of Woodbridge, N.J., the 

 president of the New Jersey Assembly. On Wednesday afternoon 

 a conversazione on ' How to use the Microscope ' was held by 

 Prof. F. C. Van Dyck of Rutgers College. Remarks upon the 

 subject were also made by Prof. George Macloskie of Princeton, 

 who also exhibited a most convenient apparatus for the dissection 

 of flowers and insects. In the evening -a most interesting lecture 

 upon diatoms was given by Prof. Samuel Lockwood of Freehold, 

 N.J., illustrated by means of the stereopticon. Professor Lockwood 

 has made these interesting microscopical plants the study of his 

 lifetime, and consequently spoke from his own personal observa- 

 tions. His lecture was enjoyed by all ; and the fact that his audi- 

 ence could see before them objects which are only visible by means 

 of the microscope, magnified many thousand times, — we might 

 almost say millions, — added very much to its interest. Thursday 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS IN WASHINGTON. 



The Library of the Geological Sarvey : Strong in its Special Fields. — 

 Light and Tree-Growth : Influences of Site and Atmospheric Con- 

 ditions. 



The National Geological Survey Library. 



One of the most important and practically useful adjuncts of the 

 National Geological Survey is its excellent library. The collection 

 was begun in i8Si, almost simultaneously with the establishment 

 of the survey ; and in the seven years that have elapsed, about 

 twenty-five thousand bound volumes and more than forty thousand 

 pamphlets have been accumulated. The first important acquisi- 

 tion of the library was in the fall of 1882, when Mr. Darwin, the 

 librarian, negotiated the purchase of the Robert Clarke geological 

 library in Cincinnati. It comprised about two thousand volumes, 

 consisting principally of the reports of State geological surveys. 

 This was the nucleus of what has become the most complete col- 

 lection of State, United States, and foreign official reports of geo- 

 logical surveys now in existence. There are probably between 

 four thousand and five thousand volumes in this department of the 

 library, including many reports that are rare, and sets that it 

 would be very difficult to duplicate. Of course, even this part of 

 the library is not complete ; but it is more nearly so than any other 

 similar collection, and additions are frequently being made to it. 

 It is in constant use by members of the survey preparatory to field- 

 work. 



The division of official reports is arranged in the following order : 

 in the first sections are the reports of State surveys classified geo- 

 graphically. This portion of the department comprises a larger 

 number of books than either of the others ; and its practical value 

 to the National Survey, as evidenced by its constant use, can hardly 

 be overestimated. The careful study of its volumes prevents the 

 duplication by the National Survey of work already done, and 

 available. It may be interesting to note, in passing, that the first 

 geological report authorized by a State legislature in the United 

 States was ordered by the legislature of North Carolina, and pub- 

 lished as a 'memoir' in 1S19. It is a thin volume, treating of 

 other topics in addition to the brief and very vague chapters on the 

 geology of the State. 



A succeeding portion of this same division contains a very full 

 collection of reports of early United States Government surveys, 

 reconnaissances, etc. Most of these were made under the direction. 



